Department for Transport

Radar: Wind Power

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken steps to ensure that the operation of radar does not restrict the implementation of the Government’s offshore wind sector deal.

Michael Ellis: It is essential that UK aviation continues to benefit from a high standard of safety, and the windfarm industry will continue to play a key role in ensuring that this remains the case. The Offshore Wind Sector deal could deliver up to 30GW by 2030 and the Government has committed to work across Government, including aviation, to ensure this is achieved in a sustainable way taking account of users of the sea, aviation and Ministry of Defence. The process of upgrading civil and military radar by around 2030 will be led by the Ministry of Defence and National Air Traffic Services, as they look to procure systems in line with their future requirements. An Aviation Management Board has been established for the Government to work jointly with both the windfarm industry and the aviation sector to find a solution which meets the needs of both industries and ensures a safe airspace.

Radar: Wind Power

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the future aviation strategy will include the potential effect of the operation of radar on the implementation of the offshore wind sector deal.

Michael Ellis: The offshore wind sector is a success story for the UK. From 2010 the offshore wind’s share of annual UK generation increased over 5% to 6.2% in 2017, with costs falling faster than anyone could have envisaged 10 years ago. The Offshore Wind Sector deal could deliver up to 30GW by 2030 and the Government has committed to work across Government, including aviation, to ensure this is achieved in a sustainable way taking account of users of the sea, aviation and MOD. Although wind turbines can impact the effectiveness of radar systems, it’s essential that aviation continues to benefit from a high standard of safety, and therefore ongoing cooperation between Government and the windfarm industry will continue to play a key role in ensuring that this remains the case. The Government’s current policy is that the mitigation costs of offshore wind’s impacts on radar should be recovered from those windfarm developers who stand to benefit commercially. Therefore, the wind sector deal is currently dealt with separately from the upcoming aviation strategy. An Aviation Management Board, in which the Government and relevant bodies such as NATS and the CAA participate, has been established for the Government to work jointly with both the windfarm industry and the aviation sector to find a solution which meets the needs of both industries and ensures a safe airspace. This will ensure cross-Government coordination on radar and aviation policy matters.

Aviation: Wind Power

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government’s aviation strategy will assume an increase in offshore and onshore wind deployment up to 2050 as the baseline operating scenario for aviation.

Michael Ellis: Our aviation forecasts do not make any assumptions about the underlying general energy mix. The Government, however, does undertake cross sectoral energy analysis of that nature. The locations of wind farms are considered through the planning process. The Offshore Wind Sector Deal, published by Government in March this year, envisages up to 30GW of offshore wind deployment by 2030. An Aviation Management Board, in which the Department and relevant bodies such as NATS and CAA participate, has been established for the Government to work jointly with both the windfarm industry and aviation sector to find a solution which meets the needs of both industries and secures a safe airspace. This will ensure cross-Government coordination on radar and aviation policy matters. The Department will take account of the outputs of this work in developing aviation policy.

Trains: Procurement

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of replacing diesel trains with hybrid and electric trains.

Andrew Jones: The Department has not made an estimate of the cost of replacing diesel trains. The Government has set out its ambition to remove all diesel-only trains from the network by 2040, and the rail industry are producing a decarbonisation report which will set out how it can achieve this objective.

Crossrail Line

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are no further delays to the opening of Crossrail beyond March 2021.

Andrew Jones: On 25 April 2019, Crossrail Ltd (CRL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transport for London, announced that it had agreed a plan to complete the outstanding works and bring the Elizabeth line into passenger service at the earliest possible date. Given the risks and uncertainties remaining on the project, CRL has identified a six-month delivery window for opening of the central section with a midpoint at the end of 2020. The revised schedule will continue to be tested by CRL and the CRL Board through a thorough assurance process including close scrutiny from the Project Representative. The schedule will also be subject to challenge from both the Department and TfL as joint Sponsors.

Crossrail Line

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending Crossrail to Ebbsfleet.

Andrew Jones: At this crucial stage of the Crossrail project, it is essential that Government remains focused on the full delivery of the current agreed scheme as its priority. Government is supporting local partners to develop a business case for enhancing transport services between Abbey Wood and Ebbsfleet and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has recently announced that they are providing £4.85 million to develop low-cost proposals, subject to suitable housing ambition. MHCLG have been clear that any transport enhancements would require a strong final business case with a detailed evidence base that demonstrates that the scheme would be technically feasible, offer value for money (including the identification of funding) and deliver ambitious new housing in the area.

South Western Railway

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when South Western Railway will procure the support software necessary to be installed in the Control Centre for the purposes of taking account of rolling stock and disruptions caused by train crew issues.

Andrew Jones: Within the South Western Railway (SWR) /Network Rail (NR) joint control centre, there are systems that have already been put in place in order to take account of rolling stock and disruptions caused by train crew issues. These include a Train Crew Rostering System, Decision Support System and Fleet Diagnostics System. These are in addition to the usual Control Centre systems and software (and hardware) upgrades that SWR have introduced across the business that are not specific to the Control Centre.

Transport: Infrastructure

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much capital funding from the public purse has been spent on transport infrastructure projects in each region of England in the years 2012-13 to 2016-17; and what estimate he has made of that funding per head of population in those regions.

Michael Ellis: Figures on public sector expenditure at a regional level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics. The statistics include spend on transport by all public sector organisations including the Department for Transport, Local Authorities, Public Corporations (in the case of transport, this is mainly spend by London Underground) and other Government Departments including devolved administrations. When comparing expenditure across regions a number of factors should be considered. For example, when expenditure is presented on a “per head of population” (or “per capita”) basis, it does not account for the pressure that large numbers of commuters and visitors from outside of a region can add to the transport networks. In addition, larger built-up areas (such as London) tend to make greater use of mass public transport systems, and these will generate fares income which contributes to their operating costs. Statistics for public sector capital expenditure by region of England are given in Table 1 below. Table 2 provides the equivalent statistics per capita. Capital expenditure has been used as a proxy for spending on infrastructure specifically, but may include some capital investment beyond transport infrastructure projects. Table 1: Total capital spending on all transport, by all public sector bodies (£millions nominal)Region2012-132013-142014-1512015-162016-17East Midlands469597746795664East of England9731,0341,1761,4101,427London3,8754,0224,5495,3355,770North East295323406521512North West1,1171,1361,3931,8241,807South East1,1951,4321,5421,9682,121South West6246628031,0111,169West Midlands8268041,0871,3291,311Yorkshire and the Humber8058741,0841,3351,1291Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis   Table 2: Capital spending per capita, on all transport, by all public sector bodies(£s nominal)Region2012-132013-142014-1512015-162016-17East Midlands£103£130£161£170£140East of England£165£174£195£232£233London£466£478£533£616£658North East£113£124£155£198£194North West£158£160£195£254£250South East£137£163£174£220£235South West£117£123£148£185£212West Midlands£146£142£190£231£226Yorkshire and the Humber£151£164£202£248£2081Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis Total capital expenditure is prone to large year-on-year fluctuations as major projects are completed and funding to new projects begins. Large transport projects tend to require large sums of capital expenditure during construction, but deliver benefits for many years into the future. Consideration of this must be given when making year-on-year comparisons. Please note that 2017-18 data is available on HM Treasury’s publication webpage:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis

London City Airport: Noise

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2019 to Question 261130, what the outcome was of the discussions on noise pollution at the meeting on 11 June 2019.

Michael Ellis: The aviation noise-related discussions during the meeting between the Aviation Minister and the Chief Executive of London City Airport on 11 June focused on the level of noise complaints and the airport’s sound insulation scheme.Through the Aviation 2050 green paper, the Government has been consulting on proposals as to how sustainable growth should be defined in terms of aviation noise, including a requirement for all major airports to set out a plan which commits to future noise reduction. The consultation period on the green paper closed on 20 June. We will use the responses and feedback gathered during consultation to finalise the Government’s future vision for aviation, with the final white paper due to be published at the end of this year.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Small Businesses: East Midlands

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps the Government has taken to boost the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises in the East Midlands.

Kelly Tolhurst: Small and medium sized enterprises in the East Midlands can access business advice through their local Growth Hubs. Led and governed by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP), Growth Hubs provide a free, impartial, ‘single point of contact’ to help businesses in the area identify and access the right support for them at the right time no matter their size or sector. The LEPs which cover the East Midlands have self-reported that in FY2017-2018 their Growth Hubs supported over 12,000 businesses and helped over 300 individuals start a business Since its creation in 2012, the Government-backed Start Up Loans company has made 3,573 loans worth over £25.5m to the East Midlands region. In the Mansfield constituency, 66 loans have been made worth £503,200[1]. April 2019’s increase in the National Living Wage (NLW) means that 157,000 workers in the East Midlands have received an inflation-beating pay rise of 4.9%. The latest estimates suggest that 5,000 workers in Mansfield are receiving the NLW and National Minimum Wage. The Industrial Strategy is creating an economy that works for everyone; setting out a long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people throughout the United Kingdom. Nationally, the Government is providing up to £18.6 million to Be the Business to increase firm level productivity by supporting SMEs to make simple changes and learn from each other. And the £9 million Business Basics Programme is testing innovative ways of encouraging SMEs to take-up proven technology and business practices that can boost productivity. A total of £2 million has been allocated to projects from the first round of the Business Basics Fund and we are expecting to allocate a further £2 million of funding in Autumn 2019. [1] At May 2019

Carbon Capture and Storage

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of progress on the carbon capture and storage project announced in November 2018.

Chris Skidmore: The Government believes that carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) has the potential to play an important role in meeting the UK’s climate targets. CCUS can add value to the economy and help tackle hard to decarbonise sectors.The Government published its CCUS Action Plan in November 2018, designed to progress CCUS in the UK, including enabling the UK’s first CCUS facility to be operational from the mid-2020s. We have also announced £50m of innovation funding to drive down the cost of CCUS.I welcome the progress being made on the range of CCUS projects in the UK, including those that were announced in November 2018. Officials from the Department are engaging with these and all other CCUS projects in the UK.

Industry: Public Consultation

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what level of public consultation his Department expects to conduct as part of the development of local industrial strategies.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance is issued by his Department to local enterprise partnerships on the inclusion of public consultations in the development of local industrial strategies.

Kelly Tolhurst: Local Industrial Strategies are developed locally and agreed with government. In the policy prospectus published in October 2018, we set out that Local Industrial Strategies should be the product of consultation with businesses, a broad range of public partners and civil society. In addition to this, the ‘Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships’ Review published in July 2018 made clear that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate to the highest standards of accountability and transparency and ensure the communities they represent can influence the economic plans for the area. To be successful, Local Industrial Strategies must be developed from the bottom up and led by those who best know the needs of local economies. This locally led approach means Local Enterprise Partnerships and Mayoral Combined Authorities should choose how they work in partnership with both public and private stakeholders and determine the best way to consult the public. Places have taken different approaches to public consultation; the West Midlands and Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategies, published recently, demonstrate this.

Waste Heat Recovery

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2019 to Question 259850 on Waste Heat Recovery, whether Canetis Technologies Ltd have discussed the representations of their own products with the Building Research Establishment.

Chris Skidmore: BEIS officials understand that the Building Research Establishment has had discussions with Canetis Technologies Ltd. about the representation of its Flue Gas Heat Recovery System products in the Product Characteristics Database.

Business: Carbon Emissions

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2019 to Question 262225 on Business: Carbon Emissions,  which organisations made those representations; which businesses signed the letter referred to in the Answer; and how many of those (a) organisations and (b) businesses supported net zero (i) by 2030 and (ii) before 2050.

Chris Skidmore: As noted in my previous answer, a number of organisations have written expressing their support for setting a net zero emissions target. This letter can be accessed here:http://www.aldersgategroup.org.uk/asset/download/1435/Net%20zero%20business%20letter%20to%20PM.pdf Our independent advisors - the Committee on Climate Change - make clear in their report that they do not currently consider it credible for the UK to aim to reach net-zero emissions earlier than 2050. We have considered their advice and are legislating in line with it, to end the UK’s contribution to climate change.

Parental Leave

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2019 to Question 264463 on Parental Leave: Childbirth, for how long the consultation will last.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 24 June 2019



We anticipate the public consultation on options for providing further support to parents of premature, sick and multiple babies will last for 12 weeks. This will be confirmed when the consultation document is published.

Parental Leave

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to The Prime Minister's oral contribution of 28 November 2018, Official Report, column 246 and pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2019 to Question 264462, on Parental Leave: Childbirth, whether the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has informed her of his reasons for the key findings of the review of the provisions for parents of premature babies to not now be shared with interested parties.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 24 June 2019



The review of provisions for parents of premature babies was an internal review undertaken by officials of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to help them provide advice to Ministers. Advice to Ministers is not routinely shared outside of Government departments. As indicated in my response to Question 264462, the findings of this review will help to inform the public consultation on options for further support for parents of premature, sick and multiple babies, which we will launch before the end of the Summer. We look forward to working with interested parties during the consultation process.

Interserve: Insolvency

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to conduct an investigation into the effect of Interserve's entry into administration on that company's creditors.

Kelly Tolhurst: The effect of Interserve Plc’s administration on creditors is an issue for the administrators who will advise of repayment prospects. The administrators have a legal duty to report confidentially to the Insolvency Service about the conduct of the directors.

Restaurants: Billing

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the practice of employers requiring waiting staff to pay for clients' unpaid bills.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 24 June 2019



The 1996 Employment Rights Act already defines the limited circumstances in which it is allowable for deductions to be made from pay to cover cash shortages. The Government is committed to ensuring fair remuneration for lower-paid workers across the economy. In April 2019, the National Living Wage rate was increased to £8.21 per hour, a rise of 4.9 percent. It is estimated that 230,000 workers in the hospitality sector benefitted directly from this increase. In order to further support fairness for workers in the hospitality sector, through the Good Work Plan, the Government will shortly bring forward legislation to ensure that all tips left to workers will go to them in full. New rules will benefit over a million workers, many of whom are in low-paid jobs.

Measurement: Metrication

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of switching to metric measurements for distance.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 25 June 2019



Metric units are the legal units for all measurement of length other than for road traffic signs, distance and speed measurements where the mile, yard, foot and inch are the primary units of measurement. The use of units of measurement for these purposes is a matter for the Department of Transport.

Productivity

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a four day working week on productivity.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 25 June 2019



The Department is following trials of the four-day working week closely but has not yet conducted a robust assessment of the impacts.

Small Businesses: Billing

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria will need to be met for the Small Business Commissioner to fine businesses for late payments to small medium enterprises; and how much those fines will be.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government Response to the recent Call for Evidence on Creating a Responsible Payment Culture, published on the 19 June, sets out that we will be consulting on the merits of strengthening the Commissioner’s ability to assist and advocate for small business in the area of late payments. This will include seeking views on sanctions, including but not limited to financial penalties. It is important that we consider views through public consultation before awarding the Commissioner new powers.

Race in the Workplace Review

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government has taken to implement the recommendations of the Race in the workplace: the McGregor-Smith review, published on 28 February 2017.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government has been working with Business in the Community and others to provide support and guidance to employers in implementing the McGregor-Smith review recommendations. In March 2017 the first annual best employer for race list was opened with 66 employers listed. In October 2017 BITC published the ‘let’s talk about race’ booklet and a portal of best practice for employers. In October 2018, the Prime Minister launched a consultation on how best to implement mandatory ethnicity pay reporting and we will set out next steps in due course. Alongside this, the Race at Work Charter was announced which commits signatories to effective practices that support fairness at work. So far over 160 employers have signed up. The Government commissioned a ‘One year on’ report to assess the extent to which the review’s recommendations had been implemented and this was published in October 2018.

Transport: Carbon Emissions

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including (a) aviation and (b) shipping in the statutory regime for the Government's net zero carbon target.

Chris Skidmore: The Government is clear on the need for action to tackle emissions from the whole economy – including emissions from international aviation and shipping. Emissions from domestic flights and shipping are already covered by our existing domestic legislation and our carbon budgets provide “headroom” for the inclusion of international aviation and shipping emissions. This will continue to be the case for a net zero target. Emissions from international aviation and shipping are a global problem requiring a global solution. That is why we are working closely with the relevant international organisations, the International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization, to ensure we and the rest of the world are taking ambitious action.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Gulf of Oman: Tankers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on recent attacks on oil tankers in the Middle East.

Dr Andrew Murrison: This incident is deeply worrying at a time of already huge tension. These latest attacks build on a pattern of destabilising Iranian behaviour and pose a serious danger to peace and stability in the region. The UK remains in close coordination with international partners to find diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions. Our Ambassador to Iran sought and was granted a meeting with the Iranian government on 15 June, where they discussed developments in the region and a range of other topics. We have long made clear to Iran our concern about their destabilising regional activity, particularly the proliferation of ballistic missiles and support to non-state groups, in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. In targeting civilian shipping, international norms have been violated. It is essential that tankers and crews are able to pass through international waters safely. We call on Iran urgently to cease all forms of destabilising activity. On 22-23 June, I met with senior Iranian Government representatives. I held open, frank and constructive conversations with the Iranian authorities. I was clear about the UK’s long-held concerns over Iran’s activities, as well as the UK’s determination to maintain the nuclear deal which is in our shared security interests.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to encourage the Transitional Military Council in Sudan to resume negotiations with protesters in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: On 3 June, the Foreign Secretary condemned the attack on protestors by Sudanese security forces, and held the Transitional Military Council (TMC) fully responsible. We also expressed serious concern over TMC's announcement that it would cease negotiations and called for an agreed transfer of power to a civilian-led government. Our Embassy in Khartoum has called on the TMC to take the steps needed to improve the situation in Sudan, including the release of all political detainees.The TMC now need to take appropriate steps to provide confidence for protestors and create the conditions necessary for the resumption of dialogue, which includes an investigation into the 3 June attack and Freedom of Media and blockages to the internet ceasing, and free media being allowed. We have said that the TMC must re-engage in the political process with the protestors and opposition to ensure an agreed transfer of power to a civilian-led authority, as demanded by the Sudanese people, in a swift, orderly and peaceful manner. The UK will continue to engage with all sides to support a settlement that works for all Sudanese people.

Mali: Ethnic Groups

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of ethnic tension in Mali.

Harriett Baldwin: I am deeply concerned by the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Mali, and particularly the recent and continuing violence between communities in the central Mopti region, which has included attacks on children and civilians. I have and will continue to call for perpetrators to be brought to justice and for the cycle of violence to end. It is essential that the Government of Mali puts in place and implements a comprehensive strategy to address the insecurity and the lack of dialogue between communities in conflict. The UK is increasing support to help address the complex challenges faced by Mali, including developing programmes to address the long-term drivers of instability and conflict in the region.

Aung Marm Oo

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Burmese counterpart on the charges of unlawful association against the journalist Aung Marm Oo.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Press freedom and the rule of law are fundamental to any democratic society, and journalists must be allowed to work freely and without intimidation. The British Ambassador has been clear in making this point, and recently raised this case with Burma's Minister for International Cooperation. The UK will continue to work hard to support media freedom within Myanmar.

Israel: Arms Trade

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of UK arms exports to Israel on peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The Government takes its defence exports responsibilities extremely seriously and operates some of the most robust export controls in the world. We only approve equipment which is for Israel's legitimate self-defence, when we are satisfied that this would be consistent with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria and other relevant commitments. We will not issue a licence if there is a clear risk that the equipment might be used for internal repression, or if there is a clear risk that it would provoke or prolong conflict. We continue to believe the best way to achieve this is through substantive peace talks between the parties leading to a two-state solution with Jerusalem as a shared capital.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy of reports that officials of the Srinagar Deputy Commissioner’s office banned Amnesty International from holding an event for the publication of its report on alleged human rights and rule of law violations by Indian state authorities under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are aware of the Amnesty International report and understand that an event was cancelled, the reasons for which are a matter for Amnesty International and the Indian authorities.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the Amnesty International report Tyranny of a lawless law: detention without charge or trial under the Jammu and Kashmir public safety act, published on 12 June 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​We are aware of the Amnesty International report regarding the Public Safety Act in India-administered Kashmir, and we note both the concerns and recommendations raised in the report. The British Government works, extensively across our diplomatic network to encourage States to ensure their domestic legislation meets international standards on human rights. We continue to urge States to honour in practise their human rights obligations and to uphold the rule of law.

Hong Kong: Extradition

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the UN about the compatibility of the Government of Hong Kong’s proposed extradition law with the Sino-British Joint Declaration by the Governments of China and the UK in 1984.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We do not assess that the extradition proposals themselves breach the Sino-British Joint Declaration, as the Treaty did not explicitly deal with extradition arrangements.If at some stage in the future we were to take the view that China had breached its obligations under the Joint Declaration, this would, under international law, be a bilateral matter between us and China and we would pursue it accordingly.

Spain: Taiwan

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Spanish counterpart on the extradition of 94 Taiwanese citizens to China.

Sir Alan Duncan: Her Majesty’s Government has not raised this issue with Spain. Spain is party to the European Convention on Human Rights and this is a matter for the Spanish courts. It would not be appropriate for us to comment.

France: Refugees

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representation to the French Government on protecting the human rights of refugees based at (a) Calais and (b) Dunkirk.

Sir Alan Duncan: This is a Home Office policy area and so I have not spoken to my French colleagues on this matter. The British government is committed to working closely with our French partners at all levels of their government to jointly manage our shared border at Calais and Dunkirk. We have close bilateral cooperation and a regular dialogue with French officials on migration matters

Press Freedom

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many international trade unions affiliated to the International Federation of Journalists have been invited to (a) speak, and (b) attend the Global Media Freedom Conference being held by his Department in July 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The Global Conference to Defend Media Freedom conference aims to bring together governments, multilateral organisations, media and civil society from across the globe onto one platform to discuss ways to defend and promote media freedom. At least 15 organisations affiliated to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), as well as members of the IFJ itself, have been invited to attend the Global Conference to Defend Media Freedom. The speakers at the conference will reflect the diversity of interest in media freedom and ensure a balanced exchange of views on how to proceed.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Russian and Syrian counterparts on (a) halting military offensives in Syria’s Idlib province and (b) respecting the ceasefire.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The UK has already made clear to Russia and the Syrian regime the need to halt their offensive in Idlib and to respect the ceasefire agreed last September at Sochi. We have said this publicly and at the UN Security Council, including at the emergency session on 18 June, as well as in direct representations to the Russian government. The UK does not maintain diplomatic engagement with the Syrian regime.

Armed Conflict: Children

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the UN on the continued use of child soldiers in conflict zones.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK is firmly committed to ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers and to protecting all children affected by armed conflict. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC), we are using our membership to ensure that conflict-related child protection issues remain a key part of the Council discussions and to ensure that UN operations retain the necessary capacity to address all child protection issues, including the continued use of child soldiers in conflict zones.For example, to mark the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers (Red Hand Day) the UK took part in a UNSC Arria meeting on protecting children in shrinking humanitarian spaces. The UK called for better integration of the Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) portfolio into UNSC country specific discussions and for all states to sign up to the key international commitments pertaining to ending the recruitment and use of children in conflict; the Paris Principles and Commitments; the Vancouver Principles; and the Optional Protocol on children in armed conflict. The UK also highlighted the importance of mainstreaming child protection in peacekeeping missions.We will be participating in the annual CAAC debate in August and will continue to use our position on the UNSC to engage with the international community and advocate greater protection for children in armed conflict against all grave violations, including recruitment and use. As the Foreign and Commonwealth Minister of State responsible fpr Children and Armed Conflict, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon champions this agenda and is committed to raising it's profile and driving progress across Government and internationally.BackgroundThe UK is an active member of the United Nations Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), which leads the international response to the issue of child soldiers and child protection. This includes pressing those parties to conflict, listed in the UN Secretary-General's annual report on CAAC, to enter into concrete action plans with the UN to verify and release any child soldiers associated with armed groups and forces and to prevent re-recruitment. The UK is the largest single financial contributor to the office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for CAAC, contributing £800,000 in the last five years, and a member of the 'Global Coalition for Reintegration', a forum to generate new ideas for supporting reintegration programmes for children formerly associated with armed groups.

European Youth Foundation

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse will be of the UK contribution to the European Youth Foundation budget in the (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21 financial years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Council of Europe’s (CoE) fiscal year is aligned with the calendar year (January – December). The UK’s 2019 CoE contribution included €369,002.54 towards the European Youth Foundation’s budget. The CoE’s budget for fiscal years 2020/21 has not yet been negotiated.

Ukraine: Aviation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his (a) Dutch and (b) Russian counterparts on supporting the enforcement of the warrants issued for those charged with shooting down flight MH17.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​As envisaged by UN Security Council Resolution 2166, HMG and UK law enforcement officials are in close contact with their Dutch counterparts and the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) into the shooting down of flight MH17.The execution of any individual warrants is a matter for the UK's independent police services.On 19 June the MH17 JIT and the Dutch National Prosecutor announced they were charging four suspects with the murder of 298 people and causing the crash of a Malaysian Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine. In his statement that day, the Foreign Secretary, called on Russia to cooperate fully in the investigation. This would include assisting with the arrest of the suspects, facilitating their questioning by Dutch investigators and the JIT, facilitating their presence at trial, and if necessary, enforcing any sentences.

Ukraine: Aviation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support he is providing to the families of the victims of the shooting down of flight MH17 now that suspects have been charged.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​All families of British nationals who died in the MH17 crash were provided with consular assistance. This assistance included referrals to victim support organisations, advice on repatriation, updates on the investigation, and the deployment of a Family Liaison Officer (for those based in the UK). We recognise that the upcoming trial process may be distressing for the bereaved families and we have contacted them either via the UK Police or directly to offer further assistance at this time.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to help reduce the number of children killed by airstrikes in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We regularly share experience with the Saudis for minimising civilian casualties. The UK continues to call on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to exercise restraint, comply fully with international humanitarian law and implement the Stockholm Agreement without delay to improve the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Attorney General

Prosecutions: South Yorkshire

John Healey: To ask the Attorney General, what the average number of days taken from the date of offence to a decision to charge an individual in South Yorkshire in each year since 2010 was.

John Healey: To ask the Attorney General, what the average number of days taken from the date of an offence to a decision to charge and individual for summary offences in South Yorkshire in each year since 2010 was.

John Healey: To ask the Attorney General, what the average number of days taken from the date of an offence to a decision to charge an individual for an indictable offence in South Yorkshire in each year since 2010 was.

Lucy Frazer: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) works closely with the Police to ensure that cases are thoroughly investigated before charges are brought. There has been an increase in the complexity of cases investigated by the police, with investigations often involving large amounts of electronic material (social media, emails, text messages, video and photographs) which needs to be reviewed by prosecutors before a charging decision can be made. This impacts on the average number of consultations and length of time taken for prosecutors to reach a charging decision. The CPS does not maintain a record of the average number of days taken from offence through to a decision to charge. However, data is held on the average number of days from submission of a case by the police to the CPS to the date of the CPS decision to charge. Data relating to to all cases in South Yorkshire, summary only cases in South Yorkshire, and indictable only cases in South Yorkshire is shown in Annex A. The data in Annex A relating to summary only cases provides figures for only a minority of summary only cases. This is because the CPS is only responsible for charging a small minority of summary only matters, with the majority charged by the police. In 2017-18 the police charged 75% of all summary only matters with only 25% charged by CPS, while for indicatable only offences the CPS charged 95% of these cases. There are a number of reasons for the steady increase in the average number of days and average number of consultations per case since 2010/11. Police are now more regularly encouraged to seek ‘early investigative advice’ to help determine what evidence is required for a charge. Early investigative advice helps to ensure that cases are thoroughly investigated and the evidence to be brought before the court is strong. As a result, the CPS is more often involved at an earlier stage in proceedings which impacts on the average number of consultations and overall timeliness.



Annex A
(Word Document, 16.31 KB)

Rape: Prosecutions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of cases of suspected rape were given a No Further Action as a result of insufficient evidence to proceed in each of the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: Rape and serious sexual offences are devastating crimes that have a profound impact on victims, and are some of the most challenging and complex cases that the CPS deals with. Where evidence submitted by the Police is sufficient to bring charges, the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute these horrific crimes. The CPS maintains a central record to show the overall number of charging decisions where a decision has been made to take No Further Action in cases recorded as rape on the system. The data is shown below broken down by financial year: In 2015-16, 31.5% of cases of suspected rape were not prosecuted due to evidential issues (2,162 cases)In 2016-17, 31.2% of cases of suspected rape were not prosecuted due to evidential issues (2,061 cases)In 2017-18, 29.7% of cases of suspected rape were not prosecuted due to evidential issues (1,786 cases)

Department of Health and Social Care

Food: Hygiene

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making it mandatory for restaurants to display their food hygiene ratings in England and Wales.

Seema Kennedy: The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Food businesses covered by the scheme are provided with stickers showing their rating. Those in Wales and Northern Ireland are already required by law to display the stickers at their premises, while those in England are encouraged to do so. The FSA considers that mandatory display should extend to England and is currently finalising an evidence-based case for a statutory scheme. The case for extending mandatory display to England is being finalised by the FSA for ministerial consideration and ultimately cross Government approval.

Food: Safety

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure that the Food Standards Agency is able to uphold food safety standards after the UK leaves the EU.

Seema Kennedy: The Department is committed to ensuring that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) maintains the high standards of food safety and consumer protection that we currently enjoy in this country. Leaving the European Union does not change the FSA’s top priority which is to ensure that food in the United Kingdom remains safe and is what it says it is. One of FSA’s main priorities is to have a robust and effective regulatory regime which will mean business can continue as normal. All FSA’s exit plans are either complete or on schedule to deliver in time for day one of exit. As part of this, the Department has laid 18 EU Exit Statutory Instruments on behalf of the FSA to ensure that our high standards of food hygiene and safety will be maintained in a no deal scenario.

Heart Diseases: Diagnosis

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the early detection of heart valve disease in primary care settings; and what assessment he has made of trends in the level of stethoscope usage in every NHS Health Check for people over 65 years old.

Seema Kennedy: The NHS Long Term Plan sets out the National Health Service’s commitment to provide greater access to echocardiography in primary care to improve the early detection of heart valve disease, and advises that people with heart failure and heart valve disease will be better supported by multi-disciplinary teams as part of primary care networks.In relation to stethoscope usage, Public Health England has advised that the NHS Health Check does not currently include formal assessment of heart sounds. Therefore, stethoscopes are not used for this purpose in the programme.The NHS Health Check is made up of three key components: risk assessment, risk awareness and risk management. During the risk assessment, standardised tests are used to measure key risk factors and establish the individual’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The outcome of the assessment is then used to raise awareness of cardiovascular risk factors, as well as inform a discussion on, and agreement of, the behavioural and medical approaches best suited to managing the individual’s health risk.

Health: Sustainable Development

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 in the UK.

Stephen Hammond: Leaving the European Union, with or without a deal, will not affect our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. We remain committed to supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, both domestically and internationally.

NHS: Debts

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS Improvement’s publication entitled Quarterly performance of the NHS provider sector: quarter 4 2018-19, for what reasons the underlying deficit of the NHS provider sector has grown to £5.0 billion; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: We have seen an improvement in the provider deficit from £991 million in 2017-18 to £827 million.We recognise that it is important that the provider sector balances and there is still much more to do. The National Health Service has committed to returning the provider sector to balance, as well as all providers, as part of its NHS Long Term Plan, supported by the new cash terms funding commitment of £33.9 billion by 2023-24.It is misleading to infer the financial health of the provider sector from changes in the reported underlying deficit. The purpose of calculating of an underlying deficit is to use as a baseline for planning purposes for individual trusts. Adjustments made to construct this figure include the removal of funding that is recurrent in the national NHS budget (but not for individual trusts), for example the Provider Sustainability Fund, which grew from £1.8 billion in 2017-18 to £2.45 billion in 2018-19. The growth in the underlying deficit simply reflects a growth in this recurrent income stream.

Heart Diseases: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have had open-heart surgery in each of the last five years.

Seema Kennedy: The information is not available in the requested format.

Heart Diseases: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many heart operations the NHS conducted using minimally invasive cardiac surgery in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

Seema Kennedy: The information is not available in the requested format.

Dementia: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the accuracy of dementia diagnoses.

Caroline Dinenage: The Challenge on Dementia 2020 sets out the ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. This has been achieved and exceeded nationally. Our focus now is on reducing the variation in local diagnosis rates and NHS England has published guidance and put programmes in place to further improve the quality and timeliness of diagnosis across the country.For example, the ‘Implementation guide and resource pack for dementia care’ published in July 2017 sets out key recommendations on how services should be configured to provide good-quality diagnosis and post-diagnostic care for people with dementia and their carers. It includes key roles and activity in primary care and memory assessment services to facilitate an accurate and timely diagnosis of dementia, while ensuring access to appropriate support following diagnosis. The resource pack is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/dementia/implementation-guide-and-resource-pack-for-dementia-care/

Epilepsy: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on monitoring the level of suicides among people who take antiepileptic drugs.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We have had no such discussions. As with all medicines, the safety of antiepileptic drugs remains under constant review by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Prostate Cancer: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the NHS has to introduce a once-in-a-lifetime test for prostate cancer.

Seema Kennedy: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has commenced work to look at the evidence to screen for prostate cancer during 2019/20 as part of its three-yearly review.An external review will be commissioned, and a public consultation will follow welcoming comments from individuals and organisations. Information about the consultation will be made available at the following link:https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/screening-recommendations.phpThe UK NSC can be alerted to the publication of any new peer-reviewed evidence which suggests a change in the current recommendation, such as a new test via the UK NSC’s early update process. Submissions are accepted throughout the year.More information on how an early update can be submitted to the UK NSC for consideration is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process

Cystic Fibrosis: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to ensure the availability of treatment for cystic fibrosis.

Seema Kennedy: Specialised services for the support and treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are commissioned by NHS England. CF services are delivered in about 20 Paediatric Cystic Fibrosis Centres and about 20 Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centres. There are separate service specifications for adults and children. These specifications are important in clearly defining what NHS England expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective care and they support equity of access to a nationally consistent, high quality service.The specifications can be found via the following links:www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Cystic-fibrosis-adult.pdfwww.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/a01Sb-spec-cystic-fibrosis-child.pdf

Hypertension: Pregnancy

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice his Department provides to pregnant women with high blood pressure to reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England and NHS Improvement recommend that women attend all antenatal appointments, which will involve regularly monitoring blood pressure. Cases of high blood pressure should be referred to their obstetrician for ongoing management.The management of high blood pressure in pregnancy can reduce the risk of a stroke, and further information on the management of high blood pressure in pregnancy is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/hypertension-blood-pressure-pregnant/Public Health England’s Start4Life programme also provides information for pregnant women about the risks of high blood pressure and key related behaviours, such as healthy eating and exercise during pregnancy, on its website and through the Information Service for Parents email programme. Relevant details on the Start4Life website are available at the following link:www.nhs.uk/start4life/pregnancy/Start4Life is Public Health England’s national programme that delivers trusted advice and practical guidance to parents-to-be and families with babies and under-fives, to help them adopt healthy behaviours and build parenting skills.

Dental Health

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve preventative dental healthcare.

Seema Kennedy: The Government is committed to improving oral health and preventing future dental disease.The Department and NHS England are continuing to test a new way of providing National Health Service dental services which aims to further improve oral health and increase dental access. There are now 102 practices trialling the new approach to providing dentistry which focusses on prevention and helping patients to reduce their risk of future dental disease.NHS England’s ‘Starting Well’ programme is working in 13 high needs areas to reach children most at risk of tooth decay, who are not currently under the routine care of a dentist.Nationally, NHS England has developed a complementary Starting Well Core offer, a commissioning approach designed to facilitate increased access and early preventive care for young children. This programme is supported by the Chief Dental Officer, which commissioners can use, and fund locally based on their own assessment of need.Health Education England’s Advancing Dental Care programme is also aiming to ensure that all dental care professionals deliver high quality care and prevent future disease.

Antibiotics: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce antibiotic use among babies and children.

Seema Kennedy: Public Health England’s (PHE’s) English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) has worked with the National Health Service and across sectors, to improve surveillance and feedback of antimicrobial use to raise awareness among healthcare professionals and the public of antibiotic prescribing in adults and children. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-surveillance-programme-antimicrobial-utilisation-and-resistance-espaur-reportPHE collaborates with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to develop evidence based antimicrobial guidelines that can be used when managing common infections and thereby promoting prudent use of antibiotics in key patient groups, including infants and children. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-programmes/nice-guidance/antimicrobial-prescribing-guidelines

Gallstones: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have had NHS treatment for gallstones in each of the last five years.

Seema Kennedy: A count of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of cholelithiasis and gallstone ileus for the financial years 2013-14 to 2017-18 is shown in the following table. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period: Financial yearFinished Admission Episodes2013-14120,4492014-15124,0982015-16126,4712016-17129,8112017-18125,300Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

Montelukast: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of montelukast to treat children with asthma.

Seema Kennedy: Montelukast is an effective treatment for asthma in patients whose asthma is not adequately controlled by their usual medication.As with many medications, there are some recognised side effects of this treatment. Individual patients should discuss risks and benefits of treatments with their general practitioner.

Hydrops Fetalis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many fetuses and newborn babies have been diagnosed with hydrops fetalis in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information on the number of fetuses and newborn babies diagnosed with hydrops fetalis are available from NHS Digital Hospital Episode Statistics as a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs). A FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.The number of FAEs with a primary diagnosis of hydrops fetalis grouped by fetus or newborn, for the years 2013-14 to 2017-18 is provided in the following table.Financial YearFetusNewborn2013-1494682014-1582542015-16109522016-1798622017-1811445

Housing: Heating

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to implement NICE guidance NG6 on reducing excess winter deaths and illness and the health risks associated with cold homes.

Seema Kennedy: Public Health England (PHE) publishes resources to support those who wish to implement the recommendations within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidelines NG6, including local authorities, the National Health Service and other frontline staff. These include the Cold Weather Plan for England, collated resources on the Homes for Health collection webpage, and guidance to support local authorities in identifying at risk individuals. The Cold Weather Plan can be viewed at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/748492/the_cold_weather_plan_for_england_2018.pdf More details on the Homes for Health can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-for-health Further information on the guidance to support local authorities can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/770963/data_sources_to_support_local_services_tackling_health_risks_of_cold_homes.pdf

Housing: Heating

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure vulnerable patients are not discharged into a cold, damp home.

Caroline Dinenage: As part of the hospital discharge process patients will receive an assessment of the care and support needed after they leave hospital. In addition to the provision of domiciliary care and reablement support this may include necessary adaptation to a patient’s home. However, while this may include minor adaptations, such as bathroom grab rails, it would not include the provision of home insulation and heating or the treatment of damp.

Preventive Medicine

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the value of preventative health-related fuel poverty initiatives is recognised in the forthcoming green papers on (a) prevention and (b) social care in England.

Seema Kennedy: We are considering a range of policy options for both Green Papers and we will be mindful of fuel poverty.

Incinerators: Air Pollution

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page five of Public Health England's position statement on the impact on health of emissions to air from municipal waste incinerators, what steps Public Health England is taking to increase its understanding of the measurement of number concentrations of particles in health terms.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the safe level of exposure is to (a) PM1 and (b) PM0.1.

Seema Kennedy: Public Health England (PHE) undertakes various air quality research projects, working with academic partners, to review the evidence for the health effects of air pollutants, regarding the health effects of particulate matter (PM0.1 and PM1). PHE is a partner in two health protection research units funded by the National Institute for Health Research, whose remit includes air pollution research. These projects can be viewed at the following link: http://www.hpru-ech.nihr.ac.uk/ PHE also draws on scientific studies and reviews published in the peer reviewed literature and by authoritative bodies.

Mental Health Services: Older People

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health staff have been trained in issues relating to older adults since the 2016 Five Year Forward View targets were set.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not held in the format requested as most training for mental health staff relates to a range of ages and not just older adults.

Mental Health Services

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 12 of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all acute hospitals will have mental health liaison teams for all age groups by 2020-21.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Between 2016 and 2018, NHS England has awarded transformation funding for liaison mental health services to 71 hospital sites to achieve the ‘core 24’ service standard as set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.To track progress, NHS England has commissioned the annual survey of liaison psychiatry, which took a snapshot of progress as at June 2018. The survey is nearly complete and results are expected to be published by NHS England in the coming weeks and are expected to demonstrate positive progress. The survey has been re-commissioned to take place again in 2019.The NHS Long Term Plan confirmed continued further investment in liaison mental health services, with an expectation that not only would all hospitals have a liaison mental health service, but 70% will be achieving the ‘core 24’ service level by 2023/24. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently inviting applications from sustainability and transformation partnerships for the second wave of national funding.

Nurses: Recruitment

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to achieve the target in the NHS Long Term Plan of recruiting 40,000 extra nurses in the next five years.

Stephen Hammond: The interim People Plan published on 3 June 2019 sets out some of the steps needed to ensure the National Health Service have the staff they need to deliver high quality care, including growing our nursing workforce by 40,000 in the next five years.The interim People Plan commits to providing funding for an additional 5,000 clinical placements for pre-registration nurse training places each year, as well as reducing attrition from training courses and expanding the international recruitment of nurses. To support this commitment NHS Improvement and NHS England are currently delivering a rapid clinical placement expansion programme, working with NHS trust directors of nursing to provide targeted support and resource to increase placement capacity for the September 2019 student intake. NHS Improvement and NHS England have also committed to undertake a comprehensive review of clinical placement activity to increase expansion and student intakes in future years.The interim People Plan stresses the importance of improving the retention of our existing nursing workforce. To that effect NHS Improvement and NHS Employers have been working in partnership to deliver a national programme to support NHS trusts improve the retention of their nursing and clinical workforce focusing on key issues such as flexible working, development and career planning.The interim People Plan also outlines the need to support more nurses to return to practice. NHS Improvement has committed to launch a new return to practice campaign, alongside a new marketing campaign, to highlight the opportunities and support available.A full People Plan will be published soon after the conclusion of the Spending Review when there is further clarity on NHS education and training budgets.

Cancer: Health Services

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a costed plan for a growing, appropriately-skilled and sustainable cancer workforce will be included within the final NHS People Plan.

Seema Kennedy: The interim People Plan published on 3 June 2019 puts the workforce at the heart of the National Health Service and will ensure we have the staff needed to deliver high quality care. A final People Plan will be published when there is further clarity on NHS education and training budgets.The Cancer Workforce Plan for England, published in December 2017 by Health Education England (HEE), set out plans to expand capacity and skills in the cancer workforce, including targeting additional training support for seven priority professions such as clinical radiology, histopathology, oncology and diagnostic and therapeutic radiography. Since 2017 there has been a net increase of 833 full time equivalent staff across the seven priority professions.HEE will now work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications of further development of cancer services. This work will inform the final People Plan.

Pancreatic Cancer: Diagnosis

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Seema Kennedy: NHS England is establishing Rapid Diagnostic Centres across the country to upgrade and bring together the latest diagnostic equipment and expertise. The centres build on the 10 models piloted through the Accelerate, Coordinate and Evaluate programme, which have focussed on diagnosing cancers where patients often present with non-specific symptoms, such as those for pancreatic cancer, and may go to their general practitioner many times before being sent for appropriate tests.NHS England will shortly be introducing a Faster Diagnostic Standard of 28 days for all cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer, which when taken together with the 62-day referral to treatment standard, will mean that all patients should expect to start their treatment within 34 days of diagnosis. This is a maximum, and trusts should continue to treat patients more quickly where there is a strong clinical need.

Pancreatic Cancer: Health Services

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding that long NHS waiting times are leading to patient harm of the Public Accounts Committee’s June 2019 report NHS waiting times for elective and cancer treatment, what assessment his Department has made of the variation in waiting times for pancreatic cancer treatment across England.

Seema Kennedy: Clinical priority remains the main determinant of when a patient should be treated.NHS England will shortly be introducing a Faster Diagnostic Standard of 28 days for all cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer. Trusts should continue to treat patients more quickly where there is a strong clinical need.

HIV Infection: Greater London

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his speech of 30 January 2019 to the AIDS free cities global forum, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding available to local authorities in London to enable the doubling of places on the PrEP Impact Trial.

Seema Kennedy: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is currently available through the three year, NHS England funded PrEP impact trial, which is providing HIV prevention drugs to people at high risk of HIV infection. Expansion of the trial is underway across the country following my Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s announcement in January that the trial would be expanded to 26,000 people. In London, boroughs have agreed to provide over 4,000 extra places on the trial, which represents a 60% increase in the number of trial places. Participation in the trial is on a voluntary basis and it is for clinics and local authorities to decide whether they wish to take part.

Surgery

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance has been issued to clinical commissioning groups on restricting access to operations until a person's medical condition worsens; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance has been issued to NHS Trusts on charging for operations which were previously offered free on the NHS.

Stephen Hammond: It is for the local clinical commissioning group (CCG) to decide what services they commission for the people they are responsible for – this will mean making clinical judgements about the effectiveness and value of treatments, and the best allocation of resources. CCGs do this based on the healthcare needs of their local populations and clinical evidence, to ensure they are providing the best possible, sustainable care for their patients. Treatment decisions should always be made by doctors based on a patient’s individual clinical needs and informed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines. NICE clinical guidelines make many recommendations spanning all stages of care from diagnosis to treatment of a condition. They represent best practice and are based on available evidence and developed through consultation. Health professionals and organisations are expected to take the guidance fully into account when deciding treatments. A fundamental principle of the National Health Service is that, for people who are ‘ordinarily resident’ in the United Kingdom, treatment is free at the point of need, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. Patient payments, other than those limited forms permitted by Regulations (such as prescription charges, payments for some clinical activity undertaken by dentists, and visitor and migrant charges) are contrary to NHS policy.

Drugs: Misuse

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the change in the level of the Public Health Grant on the (a) quality of drug treatment services and (b) number of drug-related deaths in the 2015 to 2019 Spending Review period .

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the change to the level of the Public Health Grant over the forthcoming 2019 Spending Review on the (a) quality of drug treatment services and (b) number of drug-related deaths.

Seema Kennedy: The Government is concerned by the number of drug-related deaths, which is largely caused by an ageing cohort of heroin users. We are supporting local areas to develop a more joined up approach to commissioning and delivering the range of services that are essential to supporting recovery and preventing drug-related deaths. In October, the Home Office announced that there would be a major independent review of drug misuse. This will look at a wide range of issues, including the system of support and enforcement around drug abuse, to better inform our thinking about what more can be done to tackle drug harms including deaths. The review shall inform our thinking about what more can be done to mitigate the harm caused through drug use.Local authorities will receive £3.1 billion in 2019/20, ring-fenced exclusively for use on public health, including drug addiction. We are investing over £16 billion in local authority public health services over the five years of the 2015 Spending Review until 2020/21. Public health funding for 2020 onwards, including for addiction services, will be considered carefully in the next Spending Review, in the light of the available evidence.

Heart Diseases: Death

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of preventable deaths caused by heart disease; and whether he has made an assessment of whether improving screening for older people would (a) help tackle the number of deaths attributed to heart disease and (b) be cost-effective.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of heart disease screening programmes for the elderly on (a) the incidence of preventable disease and (b) NHS costs.

Seema Kennedy: The Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) prevention initiatives report summarises a wide range of actions led by Public Health England (PHE) which will reduce preventable deaths from CVD. This can be viewed at the following link:www.healthcheck.nhs.uk/commissioners-and-providers/national-guidance/In February 2018 PHE published national ambitions on the secondary prevention of Atrial Fibrillation, High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol. This can be viewed at the following link:https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2019/02/14/health-matters-preventing-cardiovascular-disease/People aged 40-74 without existing disease are eligible once every five years for an NHS Health Check, England’s CVD prevention programme. Modelling shows that the programme, is cost effective with potential savings to the National Health Service of around £57 million per year after four years, rising to £176 million per year after 15 years. This equates to a cost per Quality Adjusted Life Year of around £3,000, considerably lower than the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s threshold. The cost benefits of the programme primarily arise from the opportunity it presents to prevent 1,600 heart attacks and strokes and save at least 650 lives each year. A copy of the Economic Modelling for Vascular Checks is attached.The United Kingdom National Screening Committee has not undertaken an assessment of the impact of routine screening for the elderly to prevent deaths due to heart disease. Therefore, the Committee has not made a recommendation on this issue.



Economic Modelling report
(PDF Document, 1022.68 KB)

Early Years Ministerial Group on Family Support

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the recommendations of the Inter Ministerial Group on early years family support have been agreed by his Department; and what further steps he has taken to improve early years family support.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Early Years Family Support Ministerial Group has been considering how the Government can improve the coordination and cost-effectiveness of early years (conception to age two) family support and identify gaps in available provision. The group has made recommendations to Secretaries of State which they are now considering.

Department for International Development

Yemen: International Assistance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to support humanitarian access to Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK continues to actively call on all parties to the conflict to comply with UN Security Resolution 2451 (which was drafted and coordinated by the UK) by facilitating safe, rapid, and unhindered access for humanitarian actors across the country. We also continue to support access through our funding to the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM). We provided £1.3 million in funding to UNVIM last financial year (2018/19) and expect to provide similar levels of support this financial year (2019/20). UNVIM facilitates commercial imports including critical supplies of food, fuel and medicine, into Hodeidah and Saleef ports by giving the coalition confidence that weapons are not being smuggled in on large commercial ships.

Department for Education

Education: Sustainable Development

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 in the UK.

Nick Gibb: Leaving the EU, with or without a deal, will not affect the Department’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.The UK’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) will be published shortly. The VNR will review UK action both domestically and internationally in support of Goal 4.The Government has been clear that it does not want or expect a ‘no deal’ scenario, but whatever the outcome of our future relationship we remain committed to supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, both domestically and internationally.

Literacy: Children

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Literacy Trust report, Children, young people and digital reading, published on 30 April 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report's conclusions on the literacy benefits of children reading both digital and print formats.

Nick Gibb: The Department welcomes the National Literacy Trust’s research on reading in both print and digital forms. The Department wants children to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, whatever the format. Research suggests that reading for pleasure is more important for children’s educational development than their parents’ level of education. There is sound evidence that systematic synthetic phonics is a highly effective method of teaching reading to children. Phonics performance is improving. In 2018, there were 163,000 more 6-year-olds on track to become fluent readers compared to 2012. This represented 82% of pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check, compared to just 58% when the check was introduced in 2012. In 2018 the Department launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme, building on the success of the Department’s phonics partnerships and phonics roadshows programmes. Hub schools are taking a leading role in improving the teaching of early reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure. The Department has appointed 34 primary schools across England as English Hubs.

Free School Meals

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of pupils who are eligible but unregistered for free school meals.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department is determined to give every child, regardless of their background, the very best start in life. Free school meals (FSM) are key to this and we want all parents whose children are entitled to them, to apply for them. Under-registration for FSM runs at around 11% (roughly 100,000 children).   We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. We provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM. We also provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.

Schools: Air Pollution

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support eco-friendly solutions to tackle air pollution in schools.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 25 June 2019



The department has recently published guidance, Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), on achieving good indoor air quality in new and refurbished schools. BB101 promotes best practice in controlling both external and internal pollutants and setting maximum standards for levels of pollutants in classrooms. The published guidance for school design and construction can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-design-and-construction.Outdoor air quality is the responsibility of local authorities who should prepare air quality action plans to ensure the level of pollutants is reduced. In January 2019, the Government published the Clean Air Strategy setting out plans to deal with all sources of pollution.

Free Schools: Construction

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new free schools were built each year since 2016-17; and how many free-schools have been approved for the next five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 25 June 2019



There are 446 open free schools, including 3 that have opened since 1 April 2019.The total number of free schools opened in each academic year since 2016/17 is as follows:Academic yearFree schools2016/17452017/18472018/1957The department has approved a further 285 applications from groups that we are now working with to establish free schools. This includes the 22 wave 13 free school applications that we announced on 14 June 2019. Furthermore, local authorities are currently running competitions to find academy trusts to establish an additional 37 special free schools and 2 alternative provision free schools across the country.

Schools: Admissions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new school places created since 2010 are in schools rated (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) requires improvement and (d) inadequate by Ofsted.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 25 June 2019



The Department is on track to create one million places this decade, the largest increase in school capacity for at least two generations.The Department collects pupil forecasts, existing school capacities, and plans to deliver additional school places from each local authority via the annual school capacity survey. Around 920,000 new school places have been created since 2010.Of those new school places that were created in existing schools between 2016 and 2017, 91%[1] were in schools rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted and 9% of the new places were created in schools rated as requiring improvement or inadequate. [1] This figure will expire on the 27 June 2019 on publication of the latest local authority school places Scorecards 2018.

Apprentices: Taxation

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has held with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the barriers preventing NHS organisations from being able to fully utilise their Apprenticeship Levy funds; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are working together, along with employers and Health Education England (HEE), to make sure that the NHS is fully supported to recruit the apprentices that they need to deliver high quality care.I met my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Health, in January 2019, where we had a constructive discussion about the ways in which we are jointly supporting the NHS. The detailed steps that we have taken together are set out in the government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry on nurse degree apprenticeships, which was published in March 2019.We are already seeing the positive impact that apprenticeships can make in the NHS to workforce recruitment and retention. For example, in the last financial year, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust employed nearly 600 Level 2 to 7 apprentices, across 29 programmes and a variety of disciplines, ranging from Business Administration to Facilities Management to Dental Nursing. The Trust has used the apprenticeship levy to build interest across the organisation and attract employees into rewarding apprenticeship roles.In addition, Registered Nurse degree apprenticeship and Nursing Associate starts in the first half of 2018/19 are 77% and 30% higher respectively than the starts reported in the entire 2017/18 year.Both departments continue to collaborate and work closely with employers and our delivery partners to share best practice and support a wide programme of activities to help NHS employers to get the most from our apprenticeship reforms.

Apprentices: Taxation

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) proportion and (b) total value of Apprenticeship Levy funds available to NHS organisations is currently unspent; and if he will make a statement.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing NHS organisations to use their Apprenticeship Levy funds to cover the backfill costs incurred by providing apprenticeship places.

Anne Milton: As the NHS is made up of a large number of diverse employers, it is not possible to identify apprenticeship levy contributions or expired funds for the NHS as a whole. Moreover, due to taxpayer confidentiality, we are unable to publish the amount that individual employers have contributed through the apprenticeship levy.We introduced the levy to create long-term sustainable investment in high quality apprenticeship training. Widening the scope of the apprenticeship levy would divert funding away from apprenticeship training and reduce the opportunities for individuals and employers to benefit from them. It is important that we maximise the effectiveness of government investment in training and our reforms are making sure that apprenticeships are delivering the high quality training that both individuals and employers need.

Apprentices: Taxation

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value of Apprenticeship Levy funds expiring from employers' accounts was in May 2019; and what plans the Government has for those funds.

Anne Milton: The amount of funds entering employers’ digital apprenticeship service accounts in May 2017 was £135 million, of which £11 million in unspent funds expired in May 2019. This was the first month of expiry of funds.As well as funding apprenticeships in levy-paying employers, levy contributions are also used to fund training for existing apprenticeship learners and new apprenticeships in non- levy paying employers. We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds in their accounts, however they are able to.

Post-18 Education and Funding Review

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which universities (a) Sir Philip Augar and (b) members of the Augar panel visited during the Post-18 review of education and funding.

Chris Skidmore: The independent panel undertook an extensive programme of engagement with a wide spectrum of stakeholders and experts across the post-18 landscape. This included visits and discussions with officials at universities. Sir Philip Augar directly engaged with the following universities: Coventry University, University of Exeter, University of Gloucestershire, Nottingham Trent University, University of Reading, University of Warwick and University of Winchester. The other panel members directly engaged with University of the Arts London, University of Aston, University of Bedfordshire, Birkbeck University, Bloomsbury Institute, University of Central Lancashire, University of Cumbria, University of Derby, University of Exeter, University of Lincoln, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Open University, Queen Mary University, Southampton Solent University, University of Staffordshire, University of Suffolk and University of Wolverhampton.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: CTF Partners

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his (a) Department and (b) Department's agencies have entered into contracts with CTF Partners since 2015.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice has not entered into any contracts with CTF Partners since 2015.

Prisoners' Release: Surveillance

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) electronic surveillance and (b) other supervision is available for people convicted of sexual offences against children on release.

Robert Buckland: An adult offender who is sentenced to a custodial term for sexual offences against children will be subject to licensed supervision on release from custody. It falls to the National Probation Service (NPS) to supervise the offender upon release. The NPS will work with the Police and other agencies to manage the offender’s risk upon release, under the statutory Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Where an offender is serving a life, indeterminate or extended determinate sentence for sexual offences against children and becomes eligible for release on parole, it falls to the Parole Board to set the licence conditions for the offender upon release. Since 30 November 2018 it has been open to the Parole Board to include a condition in relation to GPS monitoring in the offender’s licence, where it is necessary and proportionate to manage the risks and issues posed by the offender. There are other licence conditions available to manage the risks presented by offenders convicted of sexual offences against children. These may include a ban from having contact with children, from entering certain areas, or carrying out certain types of work and a ban from contacting their victim(s). Furthermore, rehabilitative measures are available, including accredited programmes, drug treatment or mental health support. An offender manager has the power to recall an offender to prison, where the offender fails to comply with their licence conditions in a way which indicates heightened risk to the public. A full list of the available measures available on licence are listed in Annex A and B of Probation Instruction 09/2015 “Licence Conditions and Temporary Travel Aboard”. This is available online here:https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/probation-instructions/pi-09-2015-licence-conditions-and-temporary-travel-abroad.doc In addition to the oversight of MAPPA, and to supplement licence conditions, an adult offender sentenced to imprisonment for sexual offences against children is subject to the sexual offenders’ notification requirements (commonly referred to as ‘being on the sex offenders register’). Thereby, the offender must notify the Police of various personal details, including: name(s), address, date of birth, passport and national insurance number. This takes place annually and whenever such details change. The offender may also expect to receive unscheduled visits from Police officers. The Police also have a range of legislative measures available to them in order to manage offenders both during and outside the licence period.

Offences against Children: Sentencing

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders sentenced for child sexual offences were given (a) a non-custodial sentence and (b) a custodial sentence of (i) less than 12 months, (ii) one to five years and (iii) more than five years in (A) 2017 and (B) 2018.

Robert Buckland: Sentencing outcomes in 2017 and 2018 for child sexual offences are published and available from our Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804510/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2018.xlsx.To filter by child sexual abuse offences (CSA), select all the offences from the ‘Offence code’ or ‘Detailed offence’ filter listed in Table 1.To select the number of offenders sentenced for child sexual abuse (CSA) given (a) a non-custodial sentence, for each year subtract ‘Immediate custody’ (row 41) from ‘Sentenced’ (row 33) and ‘immediate custody’.To select the number of offenders sentenced for CSA given (b) a custodial sentence for (i) less than 12 months, combine the following custody rows (rows 42-48):Custody - Up to and including 1 monthCustody - Over 1 month and up to and including 2 monthsCustody - Over 2 months and up to and including 3 monthsCustody - Over 3 months and less than 6 monthsCustody - 6 monthsCustody - Over 6 months and up to and including 9 monthsCustody - Over 9 months and less than 12 monthsFor (ii) one to five years, combine the following custody rows (rows 49-55):Custody - 12 monthsCustody - Over 12 months and up to and including 18 monthsCustody - Over 18 months and up to and including 2 yearsCustody - Over 2 years and up to and including 3 yearsCustody - Over 3 years and less than 4 yearsCustody - 4 yearsCustody - Over 4 years and up to and including 5 yearsFor (iii) more than five years, combine the following custody rows (rows 56-60):Custody - Over 5 years and up to and including 7 yearsCustody - Over 7 years and up to and including 10 yearsCustody - Over 10 years and less than lifeCustody - Indeterminate sentenceCustody - Life



PQ 266750 CSA offences table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 14.36 KB)

Offences against Children: Internet

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an online offence of viewing or possessing child abuse images in each of the last five years; and how many of those people have been (a) imprisoned and (b) given a non-custodial sentence.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has published information (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804510/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2018.xlsx) on the number of defendants found guilty of child sexual abuse image offences and the disposals imposed, although data does not distinguish between online and offline offending.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

VE Day: Anniversaries

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2019 to Question 265547 on VE Day: Anniversaries, whether the Electoral Commission was consulted before the announcement that the Early May Bank Holiday in 2020 would be moved from Monday 4 May to Friday 8 May to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

Bridget Phillipson: The Commission was not consulted on the decision to move the Early May Bank Holiday in 2020.It welcomes the government’s commitment to work with the electoral community to address the practical implications of this for the administration of the polls. It is currently developing guidance for Returning Officers to support them with preparing for and delivering the 2020 elections.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Retail Trade: Urban Areas

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the decision on future high street fund applications will be published.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, who will be making decisions on applications to the future high streets fund.

Jake Berry: We are currently assessing the expressions of interest received and expect to make an announcement on which places are successfully shortlisted and will move to business case development this summer. As set out in the Fund’s prospectus, the final decision on the places which will receive funding will be made by the Secretary of State.

Urban Areas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 11 in the UK.

Jake Berry: Leaving the EU, with or without a deal, will not affect our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. The UK’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) will be published shortly. The VNR will review UK action both domestically and internationally in support of Goal 11. It will also outline key challenges and next steps, recognising that while progress is being made, there is more work to do.The UK and the EU have agreed the terms of the UK’s smooth and orderly exit from the EU in the form of the Withdrawal Agreement, and a detailed political declaration on the terms of our future relationship which will support the Government's commitment to meeting the full range of Sustainable Development Goals. However, the Government will continue to do the responsible thing and prepare for all eventualities. This includes the potential impact of a no deal scenario on the full range of government priorities. This Government has been clear that we do not want or expect a ‘no deal’ scenario, but whatever the outcome of our future relationship we remain committed to supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals both domestically and internationally.

Sheltered Housing: Older People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new forms of tenure for older people in specialist housing-with-care settings.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government currently does not have any plans to introduce other forms of tenure.

Veterans: Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to start collecting data on the number of former armed service personnel who are (a) homeless, (b) rough sleepers and (b) in temporary accommodation.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and many have dedicated their lives to the services. For those who fall on hard times it is only right that we give them all the support they need to put a roof over their head.In April 2018, MHCLG introduced a new homelessness data collection called Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC). H-CLIC captures information on all those who engage with local authority homelessness services, including those eligible for temporary accommodation and collects information on the support needs of a household, including support need resulting from being in the armed forces. These show that during October to December 2018, of the 61,410 households owed a homelessness duty in England, 440 required additional support because they formerly served in the armed forces. There are no plans to expand this collection to cover all former armed service personnel to include those who don’t require additional support.The majority of data collected by MHCLG from local authorities for households in temporary accommodation pre dates the reporting changes in the H-CLIC data collection introduced in April 2018. This means data on armed forces support needs of those in temporary accommodation is not available for MHCLG to collect.The latest statistics are available here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804329/Statutory_Homelessness_Statistical_Release_October_to_December__2018.pdfThe annual single night snapshot of people sleeping rough across all local areas in England provides some basic demographic information (age, gender, nationality).The latest statistics are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2018The Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) is a multi-agency database which records information about people seen rough sleeping by outreach teams in London across the year. Overall, 6 per cent of people seen sleeping rough by outreach workers across London during 2018/19 had served in the armed forces at some point in their lives. 2 per cent of these were UK nationals - around 115 people. The latest statistics are available here:https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reportsWhilst we have a programme of work underway to improve the broader evidence base for homelessness and rough sleeping, we are not planning any major changes to the single night snapshot methodology but continue to encourage users to provide feedback on how these statistics are used and how well they meet their needsMHCLG is actively encouraging local authorities with significant numbers of rough sleepers to improve their year-round data on rough sleeping and is working collaboratively with local authorities to develop improved homelessness data and outcomes that can measure progress in reducing rough sleeping and homelessness. We are also establishing local data pilots which will seek to improve the data collected by a wide range of services which people who sleep rough access.This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. This year, Rough Sleeping Initiative investment totals £46 million and has been allocated to 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 750 additional staff and over 2,600 bed spaces.In March, we allocated an additional £1 million of bespoke funding to support former members of the armed forces who are or are at risk of becoming homeless. The funding has been allocated between the Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, and will be used to develop new services and support them in engaging with existing service provision.

Vagrancy Act 1824

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: This Government is clear that no-one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live and sleeping rough. The cross-Government Rough Sleeping Strategy, which was published in August, committed to reviewing homelessness and rough sleeping legislation, including the Vagrancy Act 1824. The Government believes that review of the 1824 Act, rather than immediate wholesale repeal, is the right course of action to ensure the consequences of repeal are fully understood. MHCLG will report no later than March 2020.In its first year, our Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) provided over 1,750 new bed spaces and 500 staff. This year we have expanded the RSI with investment of £46 million for 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 2,600 bed spaces and 750 staff. We have also backed the Rough Sleeping Strategy with £100 million of funding.

Grenfell Recovery Taskforce

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Independent Grenfell Recovery Taskforce commitment to provide their fourth report in Spring 2019, whether that report has been delivered to his Department; and what the timetable is for the publication of that report.

Kit Malthouse: The Independent Grenfell Recovery Taskforce submitted their report to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 18 June 2019. It will be published in due course.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 262396, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) tower blocks and (b) other buildings covered in HPL cladding since being made aware of the failed BS 8414 test.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 262396, whether his Department is aware of any fire safety tests carried out in the UK on other forms of non-ACM cladding.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 262396, whether the Government provided information on the failed BS 8414 test to (a) fire authorities and (b) local authority building control departments across the UK.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Services: Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support his Department is providing to local authorities to improve the provision of services to vulnerable children.

Rishi Sunak: My Department has invested £920 million in the Troubled Families Programme. The latest evaluation shows that the programme has helped to reform local services and improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families across a number of measures, including a reduction in the proportion of children on the programme going into care by a third and a 15 per cent reduction of juvenile convictions. The full report is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-resilient-families-third-annual-report-of-the-troubled-families-programme-2018-to-2019. My Department is considering these positive evaluation findings as it prepares for the upcoming Spending Review.At Autumn Budget the Chancellor also announced an extra £410 million to address pressures on adult and children social care services and, in the run up to the Spending Review, the Government is working closely with local authorities and the wider sector to build the evidence base and help develop a thorough understanding of children’s services costs and pressures.

Early Years Ministerial Group On Family Support

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the recommendations of the Inter Ministerial Group on early years family support have been agreed by his Department; and what further steps he has taken to improve early years family support.

Rishi Sunak: The Early Years Family Support Ministerial Group has been considering how the Government can improve the coordination and cost-effectiveness of early years (conception to age 2) family support and identify gaps in available provision. The group has made recommendations to Secretaries of State which they are now considering.

Ministry of Defence

HMS Forth

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when HMS Forth will be deployed; and whether it will be permanently deployed to the UK's South Atlantic Territories.

Mark Lancaster: The Royal Navy maintains a permanent presence in the South Atlantic. For reasons of safeguarding national security, we do not discuss the detail of such operations or of future programmes, as this would or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on her Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1 in the UK.

Will Quince: Leaving the EU with a deal remains the Government’s top priority. As the Prime Minister has made clear, the best way forward is for the UK to leave the EU in an orderly way with a good deal and the Government is working to deliver legal certainty on the UK’s future relationship with the EU.However, as a responsible Government, we continue to prepare appropriately for all scenarios. This includes the potential impact of a no deal scenario on the full range of government priorities.Accurately predicting poverty rates is very difficult. Poverty projections are inherently speculative as they require projecting how income will change for every individual in society which are affected by a huge range of unknown factors.Whatever the outcome of our future relationship with the EU, Tackling poverty will always be a priority for this government and we remain committed to supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals both domestically and internationally. The UK’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) will be published shortly. The VNR will review UK action both domestically and internationally in support of Goal 1. It will also outline key challenges and next steps, recognising that while progress is being made, there is more work to do.

Personal Independence Payment

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to personal independent payment assessment reports obtained in connection with appeals, what her Department's policy is on redaction of the names of assessors.

Justin Tomlinson: The assessor’s name is not redacted when their Report is included with the department’s appeal bundle.

Television: Licensing

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency and (b) Carmarthenshire local authority area and (c) Wales in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.

Guy Opperman: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September. Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) 2017-18(a) Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency£0.93(b) Carmarthenshire local authority area£2.29(c) Wales£34.11

Television: Licensing

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Arfon constituency and (b) Gwynedd local authority area and (c) Wales in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.

Guy Opperman: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September. Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) 2017-18(a) Arfon constituency£0.56(b) Gwynedd local authority area£1.41(c) Wales£34.11

Television: Licensing

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Ceredigion constituency and (b) Wales in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.

Guy Opperman: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September. Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) 2017-18Ceredigion constituency£0.91Wales£34.11

Television: Licensing

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Worthing West constituency and (b) Arun District, Worthing Borough and West Sussex County authorities areas in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.

Guy Opperman: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September. Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) 2017-18(a) Worthing West constituency£1.66(b) Arun District local authority area£2.55(c) Worthing local authority area£1.40(d) West Sussex County £10.82

Children: Maintenance

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the Government's decision to calculate child maintenance liabilities as a proportion of gross rather than net parental income; and if she will make a statement.

Will Quince: The paying parent’s gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs for the latest tax year available. Using the paying parent’s gross income allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately.There are no plans to change the way the Child Maintenance Service calculates child maintenance liabilities.

Universal Credit

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on universal credit claimants of the 53-week rent year in the 2019-20 financial year.

Will Quince: Neither tenants or landlords lose a week’s rent in a 53 weekly rent payment year as has been alleged; no year contains 53 weeks. The problem is alignment between weekly and monthly cycles. Each month the UC housing element is a constant figure but claimants with weekly tenancy agreements will be required to make either four or five rent payments within this period. If the claimant always pays their rent on time, in five payment months they are effectively making payment for part of the following month. That month will always be a four rent payment month, so the combination of the advance payment and the ‘overpayment’ of housing support during that month will get the claimant back on track.Where a landlord charges rent weekly on a Monday, because of the way the calendar falls every 5 or 6 years, they will seek 53 rent payments in a year, with the 53rd payment in part covering the tenancy for the first few days of the following year. The effect of this is that, over the course of the next housing association rental year, a tenant’s UC payments will accurately reflect their liability, irrespective of the 53 payment weeks.There is a separate issue with respect to the way the calculation in the Universal Credit regulations converts a weekly liability into a monthly allowance. The conversion is achieved by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and then dividing by 12. This effectively means one day’s rent a year (two days in a leap years) are not covered by UC. We are currently considering whether this formulation around weekly rents, and potentially other weekly amounts in the UC calculation, should be amended.

Television: Licensing

Emma Dent Coad: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Kensington constituency and (b) Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea local authority area in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.

Guy Opperman: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September. Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) 2017-18(a) Kensington constituency£0.69(b) Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea local authority area£1.00

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many vulnerable claimants whose benefits claim was closed as a result of them not attending a Work Capability Assessment (a) received a home visit and (b) did not receive a home visit in 2018-19.

Justin Tomlinson: The Work and Health Decision Making Directorate makes decisions on benefit entitlement for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC) customers who have failed to attend Work Capability Assessments.Whilst we would be able to ascertain the total number of ESA claims closed for failing to attend a Work Capability Assessment without good cause, this would incur disproportionate costs. Further, the information would not provide details of how many of those customers were vulnerable or how many received a home visit. To obtain the details requested would require scrutiny of thousands of individual claims. Therefore, the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.In respect of Universal Credit claims, these are not closed as a result of the claimant failing to attend the Work Capability Assessment. Where a decision is made that the claimant failed to attend without good cause, the claimant’s health journey is ended and their work conditions are changed accordingly. Information about the number of claims referred for a home visit during the decision making process is not collated. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Children: Maintenance

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of paying parents using the collect and pay service have paid some child maintenance in each quarter of the last three years.

Will Quince: The latest statistics on the number of paying parents and the proportion of those parents using the Collect & Pay service, who have paid some child maintenance in each quarter in the last three years are published in Table 7 of the Child Maintenance Service Statistics: Paying Parents Compliance.It is available online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-december-2018-experimental

Children: Maintenance

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents were paying child maintenance using a deduction from earnings request under the child maintenance service in each quarter of the last three years.

Will Quince: The number of Paying Parents who were paying child maintenance using a Deduction from Earnings request under the Child Maintenance Service in each quarter of the last three years are outlined in the tables below. These figures count all Paying Parents due to pay maintenance via Deduction from Earnings request, regardless of whether any maintenance had been paid in that quarter. Calendar Year 2018 Quarter endingMarch 2018June 2018September 2018December 2018Number of paying parents with a Deduction from earnings request480580590570  Calendar Year 2017 Quarter endingMarch 2017June 2017September 2017December 2017Number of paying parents with a Deduction from earnings request290320330380  Calendar Year 2016 Quarter endingMarch 2016June 2016September 2016December 2016Number of paying parents with a Deduction from earnings request210230250270 Please note that figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Children: Maintenance

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service cases were in payment arrears for each quarter of the last three years.

Will Quince: The following table shows the number of Paying Parents who had outstanding unpaid child maintenance (which now needs to be collected through the Collect & Pay service) at the end of the relevant month. MonthPaying Parents with CMS arrearsSep-17105,900Dec-17117,100Mar-18126,800Jun-18136,400Sep-18143,800Nov-18*148,200Please note the following points:A Paying Parent may be paying towards multiple child maintenance arrangements;These figures do not consider unpaid child maintenance that was arranged by the Child Support Agency;Paying Parents with any amount of unpaid maintenance which was arranged by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) are considered as having arrears;Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Information prior to September 2017 is not readily available and to produce it would incur disproportionate cost.*Information for December 2018 is not readily available; November 2018 figures have been used instead.

Personal Independence Payment: County Duram

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2019 to Question 265490, what steps her Department is taking to (a) assess staff efficiency and (b) identify the adequacy of staffing levels to manage changes in mandatory reconsideration caseloads in the absence of data on staff levels.

Justin Tomlinson: With reference to the previous question regarding PIP mandatory reconsideration work; for new claims and award reviews, these are managed at a national level to ensure that cases which have been outstanding for longest are actioned first. This means that a claimant could have their mandatory reconsideration considered at any of our 12 sites.Operational Managers are in place at all of the sites to ensure that mandatory reconsiderations are processed as efficiently as possible.The staffing for mandatory reconsiderations in PIP and across all benefits is currently adequate and is in constant review to ensure caseloads can be processed as efficiently as possible.

Early Years Ministerial Group On Family Support

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the recommendations of the Inter Ministerial Group on early years family support have been agreed by her Department; and what further steps she has taken to improve early years family support.

Will Quince: The Early Years Family Support Ministerial Group is considering how the Government can improve the coordination and cost-effectiveness of early years (conception to age 2) family support and identify gaps in available provision. The group has now made recommendations to Secretaries of State.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Sustainable Development

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 in the UK.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 in the UK.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 12 in the UK.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14 in the UK.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 15 in the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Leaving the EU, however that is achieved, will have no impact on the department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 2, 6, 12, 14 and 15.

Circuses: Animal Welfare

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent domestic animals being harmed and exploited in circuses.

David Rutley: The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 regulations) came into force on 1 October 2018. The regulations require anyone in England who is in the business of keeping or training animals (regardless of whether they are domestic or wild kept animals) for exhibition, educational or entertainment purposes, including within a circus, to be licensed by the relevant local authority. The regulations include powers for local authorities to inspect the premises where the animals are kept to ensure minimum welfare standards are being maintained. In addition, all kept animals including those in a circus are protected by the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. If anyone considers that an animal in a circus is suffering or its welfare is being compromised then they should report it to the local authority who have powers under the 2006 Act to investigate, or to the RSPCA who will also investigate such matters.

Dog Fighting

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent people giving away dogs online to tackle the dog fighting industry.

David Rutley: The Government abhors the mistreatment of animals, including organised dog fighting. It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to be involved in or to promote animal fighting including dog fighting. The Government has announced it will increase the maximum custodial penalty for animal cruelty, including animal fighting, from six months to five years’ imprisonment and legislation will be introduced as soon as possible. In relation to online advertising of pets and other animals, the Government has worked with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG - a group of animal welfare, veterinary and animal keeping interests) who promote the responsible advertising of pet animals. Five online animal adverting platforms have adopted PAAG’s minimum standards for advertising animals which are endorsed by the Government. The minimum standards include that the websites run automated checks for key words and terms such as banned dog breeds, and filter for misleading or inappropriate adverts which are then removed. The websites must exclude any advert where there is a reasonable concern for the health and welfare of the animal involved and provide a clearly visible function for purchasers to report illegal or inappropriate adverts. The Government will continue to work with PAAG to encourage more online advertising platforms to sign up to PAAG’s minimum standards.

Dogs: Tagging

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were microchipped in 2018.

David Rutley: The Government estimates, from figures provided by the relevant microchip databases, that around 8.1 million dogs in the UK were microchipped in 2018. This represents around 90% of all dogs in the UK.

Livestock: Transport

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has received a copy of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee’s report on standards for animal welfare during transport.

David Rutley: The Government has received the Farm Animal Welfare Committee’s advice on the welfare of animals in transport and this advice has also been sent to the devolved administrations.We are considering the report and we intend to publish the Government’s response to it along with the report itself this summer.

Fisheries: Sustainable Development

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that commercial fishing becomes more sustainable (a) in the UK and (b) globally.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The UK Government remains fully committed to sustainable fisheries management and the principle of maximum sustainable yield (MSY). This will not change once we are outside the EU. In recent years we have successfully introduced a range of selectivity and spatial avoidance measures in our fisheries to help reduce unwanted bycatch and discarding, including cod in the Irish Sea nephrops fishery. In the North Sea, a fleet of vessels participating in an annual scheme to fully document catches have successfully cut their unwanted catch of unmarketable fish, including undersized fish, from their mixed fishery. We also continue to take a strong and principled position on sustainable fishing internationally, including most recently calling for reductions in catches of yellowfin tuna at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, and arguing against an in year increase in the total allowable catch for North East Atlantic mackerel as part of a balanced sustainable approach. The Fisheries Bill introduced to Parliament in October 2018 provides a framework to enable us to continue to push for more stocks being fished at MSY and delivering our ambition for sustainable fishing in the future. The first clause will enact several sustainability objectives, one of which is to restore fish stocks to levels capable of producing MSY. The Bill provides for a binding duty on the UK and devolved administrations to produce a statutory Joint Fisheries Statement. This statement must include policies for the achievement of the sustainability objectives.

Air Pollution: Schools

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on improving air quality around schools.

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of schoolchildren exposed to high levels of air pollution in 2019.

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the air quality grant programme has been allocated to improve air quality around schools since 2017.

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of school children exposed to high levels of air pollution in 2019.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministers across Government Departments about air pollution and how to reduce it. No estimate has been made by the Government. Local authorities are best placed to target action to improve local air quality, and are required to review and assess local air quality and to take action where there are high levels of air pollution. They have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools. In March this year Public Health England published the report Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health. This recommended that local authorities, as part of their local Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health consider a range of interventions to reduce air pollution in the vicinity of schools and reduce children’s exposure accordingly. The Government’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions which may include action targeting schools. The Government has awarded over £60 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997, including £3 million in 2018/19. The following air quality grant award money has been allocated specifically to improve air quality around schools since 2017: 2016/17London Borough of Islington Local school focused awareness and engagement campaign (£50,000).Sheffield City Council Air Aware communications campaign (engaging local GPs, community groups and schools) (£50,000)2017/18Blaby District Council Schools and SMEs behavioural change and action plan (£59,000).Canterbury City Council Awareness campaign in schools and community on transport and domestic burning stoves (£33,354).East Sussex County Council (with West Sussex, Brighton, Chichester, Horsham, Adur, Crawley, Mid Sussex, Worthing, Lewes) Action plan for schools and businesses in AQMAs (£105,900).Spelthorne Borough Council (Surrey Air Alliance) Awareness campaign in schools across the county (£145,188).2018/19Colchester Borough Council Engagement and awareness project throughout the transport network to promote air quality awareness and transport choices in schools (£249,100)Hertsmere Borough Council Cleaner Air 4 Hertsmere Schools awareness project to influence travel behaviour (£37,500).Islington London Borough Council NO2 indoor study in school to test sensor performance and efficiency of filter systems (£20,000)Slough Borough Council Testing of Vaisla sensors around schools to monitor AQ and use data to promote behaviour change (£99,125).

Home Office

Drugs: Organised Crime

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the number of girls being sexually exploited in the county lines drugs trade.

Victoria Atkins: The latest threat assessment on county lines was published by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in January 2019. This sets out that while criminal exploitation is the most common exploitation type within county lines, victims are sometimes subjected to sexual exploitation and these victims are largely female. The assessment also points out the likelihood that females are underrepresented as both victims and perpetrators of county lines criminality.  Work is ongoing to protect those who are exploited and target county lines offenders. The Home Office has provided £3.6m to establish the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to enhance our cross border intelligence and activity on county lines and to better safeguard and protect victims of county lines. NCLCC has so far carried out three separate weeks of operational intensification leading to over 1600 arrests and over 2100 individuals engaged with for safeguarding.In addition, the Government provides a range of support for county lines victims including; funding Young People’s Advocates in Birmingham, Manchester and London to work directly with gang-affected women and girls, especially if they have been victims, or are at risk, of sexual violence by gangs including county lines; funding through the Trusted Relationships fund of £13 million over two years to help foster relationships between frontline professionals and young people at risk of exploitation including county lines; and we have provided funding through the £22m Early Intervention Youth Fund over two years for six projects which will specifically address those at risk of involvement in county lines and criminal exploitation.

Alcoholic Drinks: Sales

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2019 to Question 255697 on Alcoholic Drinks: Sales, what assessment he has made of whether the BSI Publicly Available Specification (a) 499: 2019 entitled Code of practice for digital identification and strong customer authentication and (b) 1296:2018 entitled Online age checking: Provision and use of online age check services: Code of Practice could be used to amend the mandatory licensing condition on age verification.

Victoria Atkins: The formation of a joint Digital Identity Unit by the Cabinet Office and the Department of Culture Media and Sport was recently announced. My officials will seek to work with that unit to examine the suitability of existing standards for the purpose of amending the mandatory licensing condition.

Home Office: Sustainable Development

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU with no deal on his Department’s ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 16 in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The UK Government remains focussed on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible, and we have been clear that we do not want or expect a no deal scenario. However, as a responsible government, we continue to prepare for all scenarios.The Home Office has been planning and preparing for a no deal scenario for some time, and we have contingency plans in place across areas including law enforcement, passports and the border. Whatever the outcome of our exit from the EU, we remain committed to supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals both domestically and internationally. The UK’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) will be published shortly. The VNR will review UK action both domestically and internationally in support of Goal 16. It will also outline key challenges and next steps, recognising that while progress is being made, there is more work to do.

Police: Biometrics

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the statutory basis for the use of facial recognition technology by the police is.

Mr Nick Hurd: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 25 June 2019.The correct answer should have been:

The UK Government remains focussed on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible, and we have been clear that we do not want or expect a no deal scenario. However, as a responsible government, we continue to prepare for all scenarios.The Home Office has been planning and preparing for a no deal scenario for some time, and we have contingency plans in place across areas including law enforcement, passports and the border. Whatever the outcome of our exit from the EU, we remain committed to supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals both domestically and internationally. The UK’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) will be published shortly. The VNR will review UK action both domestically and internationally in support of Goal 16. It will also outline key challenges and next steps, recognising that while progress is being made, there is more work to do.The Government believes that there is a legal framework for the use of live facial recognition technology, although that is being challenged in the courts and we would not want to pre-empt the outcome of this case.The police have common law powers to use the technology for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime. Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 is the statutory basis for the processing of the facial images obtained from the technology for these purposes. Possible matches produced by these sys-tems are always checked by a human operator before deciding what, if any, action to take.

Caroline Nokes: The UK Government remains focussed on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible, and we have been clear that we do not want or expect a no deal scenario. However, as a responsible government, we continue to prepare for all scenarios.The Home Office has been planning and preparing for a no deal scenario for some time, and we have contingency plans in place across areas including law enforcement, passports and the border. Whatever the outcome of our exit from the EU, we remain committed to supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals both domestically and internationally. The UK’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) will be published shortly. The VNR will review UK action both domestically and internationally in support of Goal 16. It will also outline key challenges and next steps, recognising that while progress is being made, there is more work to do.The Government believes that there is a legal framework for the use of live facial recognition technology, although that is being challenged in the courts and we would not want to pre-empt the outcome of this case.The police have common law powers to use the technology for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime. Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 is the statutory basis for the processing of the facial images obtained from the technology for these purposes. Possible matches produced by these sys-tems are always checked by a human operator before deciding what, if any, action to take.

Knives: Crime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release of 5 June 2019 entitled New anti-knife crime lessons ahead of summer, what estimate he has made of the number of schoolchildren (a) reached by the anti knife-crime lessons produced in 2018 and (b) who will be reached by the new lesson plans.

Victoria Atkins: At the start of June 2019, 20,000 teachers and professionals were sent new Key Stage 3 and 4 lesson plans via the PSHE association, to further equip them to challenge myths and communicate to their pupils the dangers of carrying a knife.The #knifefree lesson plans have been made available to secondary schools across the UK, to download from the PSHE Association website. It is up to individual schools to download and use the lesson plans in their classrooms.The lesson plans released in 2018 had been downloaded over 14,000 times by June 2019 when the new lesson plans launched. To date (19/06), the lesson plans have been downloaded over 17,000 times, an increase of over 3,000 since the updated plans were released.

Youth Endowment Fund

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officials are currently working on the Youth Endowment Fund.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who the Independent Chair of the Youth Endowment Fund will be; and who will sit on the (a) management committee and (b) advisory council of that fund.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the pay scale will be of the executive director and senior team recruited by Impetus to lead the Youth Endowment Fund's work.

Victoria Atkins: In March 2019, the Home Secretary announced the award of a £200m endowment to the charity Impetus, to establish the Youth Endowment Fund. Applied over ten years, the funding will be used by the Youth Endowment Fund to support interventions steering children and young people away from involvement in crime and violence and to find, generate and apply best available evidence about which approaches are most successful.The Youth Endowment Fund has been established to operate independently of Government, and publishes information about its activities here: https://impetus.org.uk/youth-endowment-fund. The £200m endowment was awarded at the end of March by way of a Grant Agreement. Since this award, Impetus has rapidly been establishing the Youth Endowment Fund’s operations and has launched its first call for proposals.This is an open call, to fund and evaluate interventions primarily targeting young people aged 10-14 who are judged to be at risk of being drawn into crime and violence. This first funding round opened on the 28 May and will close on the 23 July, at which point applications will be assessed. As such, no projects have yet been awarded funding and no bids have been rejected. Further information about this first funding round can be found here: https://www.sibgroup.org.uk/youth-endowment-fund. There are currently four officials in the Home Office whose responsibilities include oversight of the Youth Endowment FundThe Youth Endowment Fund has been established as an independent charitable trust and is ultimately accountable to the Impetus Board. Appointment of the Youth Endowment Fund’s Independent Chair is expected to take place by the Autumn. The Youth Endowment Fund Committee comprises one representative from each of Impetus and the two organisations partnering it in delivering the Fund: the Social Investment Business and the Early Intervention Foundation; as well as a Home Office representative and other co-opted members. The Advisory Committee is yet to be established but will bring together a broad range of relevant expertise.The pay of the Youth Endowment Fund’s Executive Director and Senior Team are a matter for the Youth Endowment Fund. However, when running the Competition to secure an organisation to run the Fund, all bidders were assessed against the expectation that no member of staff should receive a salary in excess of £150k. Under the terms of the Grant Agreement, Impetus is required to ensure that senior remuneration is proportionate and justifiable. The Home Office has also recommended that the Fund publishes details of senior staff remuneration.

Slavery: Victim Support Schemes

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the national referral mechanism.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is committed to providing victims of modern slavery with the support they need by ensuring the effectiveness of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The NRM - our system for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery - operates as a bridge; it lifts someone out of a situation of exploitation, provides them with a period of intensive support, and then puts them on the road to recovery.In October 2017, the Government announced an ambitious package of reforms to the NRM, which were developed following extensive stakeholder consultation. These reforms focus on ensuring the NRM is effective in delivering what victims want: quicker and more certain decision-making that stakeholders and victims have confidence in; improved support for adult victims before, during and after the NRM; improved identification of victims; and improved support to child victims of modern slavery. More information on the NRM reform is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-referral-mechanism-reform/national-referral-mechanism-reformThe Government continues to cooperate with stakeholders as the reforms are being implemented to ensure that the NRM is effective in identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery.

Randox Testing Services

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2019 to Question 264436, when (a) he and (b) the Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service last met with the National Police Chiefs' Council to discuss forensic retesting.

Mr Nick Hurd: Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with Ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to pro-vide details of all such meetings.

Drugs: Misuse

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reclassification of (a) pregabalin/Lyrica and (b) other drugs on the sale of drugs on the street.

Victoria Atkins: An impact assessment was published on the gov.uk website prior to the control of pregabalin under Class C of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in April 2019. Impact assessments are routinely prepared prior to the control of substances under the 1971 Act and we regularly meet partners, such as the police, who provide valuable insights into the effect of control on drug markets

Domestic Abuse

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many persons were (a) arrested, (b) charged and (c) convicted of the offence of coercive control in each Police Force area in England and Wales in each year since 2016.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold centrally the information requested.The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of arrests for notifiable offences on a financial year basis. However, data are collected at the offence group level only (i.e. ‘violence against the person) and the data cannot be broken down to specifically identify the number of arrests for controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship (coercive control).Data on the number of arrests are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-walesThe Home Office holds data on the number of coercive control offences that resulted in a charge/summons for a subset of police forces in England and Wales, but not the number of people charged.Convictions data is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

Visas

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have applied for the (a) priority service and (b) super priority service for visa applications to the UK in each of the last five years.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have applied for the (a) priority service and (b) super priority service for visa applications to the UK at the British High Commission in New Delhi in each of the last five years.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have paid for the priority service for a visa application have received a decision on their application within five days in each of the last five years.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have paid for the priority service for a visa application have not received a decision within five days in each of the last five years.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, wow many people who have paid for the super priority service for a visa application have received a decision within one day in each of the last five years.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have paid for the super priority service for a visa application have not received a decision within 24 hours in each of the last five years.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to process visa applications to the UK made in New Delhi in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Caroline Nokes: The specific information requested is not published, however Home Office published information on in-country visa performance is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-may-2019The Home Office does not publish information on the out of country Priority and Super Priority visa service. Published information on the international visa operation is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-may-2019

Slavery

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 19 June 2019, Official Report, column 241, what the timescale is for the Government's consultation on strengthening transparency in supply chains with regards to modern slavery.

Victoria Atkins: On 11 June 2019, the Prime Minister announced at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) centenary that the Government is looking at ways of strengthening and improving the transparency statements required of big businesses and expanding the law to cover the public sector. The Home Office will launch a public consultation ahead of potential changes to section 54 (transparency in supply chains requirements) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Government will provide further details on the scope and time frame of the consultation in its response to the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act, which will be published in summer 2019.

Metals: Theft

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the incidences of metal crime that have occurred in each county since the implementation of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that social media platforms are preventing the illegal sale of stolen metal on their sites.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of police action in preventing the theft of lead and other metals from churches.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are licensing scrap metal dealers under the terms of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local authority licensing of scrap metal dealers under the terms of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.

Mr Nick Hurd: We supported the introduction of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 (‘the 2013 Act’) to help prevent and tackle metal theft. To support local agencies and others in implementing the measures it introduced we have published guidance on the 2013 Act which is available on GOV.uk.The Home Office collects information from police forces on the number of offences that involved the theft of metal for its scrap metal value. These data are published annually by the Office for National Statistics and can be found in the ‘Property Crime tables’ here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables. Data are available for the year ending March 2013 to March 2018 and are only available at police force area level.We recognise the challenges in tackling crimes carried out online, including in relation to metal theft. In April, we published our Online Harms White Paper which proposes a new regulatory framework, with a new statutory duty of care to ensure companies take responsibility for harmful and illegal content and activity on their services.A 2015 Home Office evaluation of Government and police interventions aimed at reducing metal theft found good evidence that they drove a reduction in offences. In addition, a 2017 review of the 2013 Act found that it continues to provide a strong legislative foundation for addressing metal theft. The evaluation and review are available on GOV.uk. We continue to work closely with the police and others to keep this area under review.

Police: Stun Guns

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the protection available to police officers who are not trained in the use of stun guns.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government is clear that police officers should have the best possible protection when facing the physical violence that is sometimes directed against them. Decisions about the selection and purchase of police equipment are primarily for chief officers of police. The Government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory provides scientific and technical advice to support the police, including the development and management of protective equipment standards, such as body armour and personal defence sprays.

Deportation

Ross Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been deported to countries with which the UK holds a Memorandum of Understanding since 2013.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not separately record returns by the arrangements that support them including Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), with foreign countries and as such the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate costThe UK has a range of returns arrangements with receiving countries including bilateral MOU, EU Readmission Agreements, formal readmission agreements and informal operational arrangements which provide the basis for administrative removal and deportation. There are also formal returns arrangements for third-country nationals to other European countries through the Dublin Regulations.The latest published statistics for the number of returns to individual countries is available from the GOV.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803187/returns5-mar-2019-tables.ods

Visas: Fees and Charges

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 263147 on Visas: Applications, what the new costs of out of hours appointments will be.

Caroline Nokes: We are aware that increased demand has had an impact on short term appointment availability which means customers might not always be able to book an appointment at their earliest convenience.We are working with Sopra Steria Limited (SSL) as a matter of priority on a number of actions to increase the capacity at service points and we expect availability to increase shortly. These measures include; six additional service points in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Exeter in May and June. SSL are also increasing appointments offered to customers across a number of existing sites and have reduced the cost of out of hours appointments to £50 in the Croydon service point. Charges in other core sites currently range from £75 to £100, but we will continue to monitor prices and customer demand.

Police

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) police officers, (b) police constables, (c) police community support officers and (d) special constables there were in each police force area in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes data bi-annually on the number of police officers, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and Special Constables, by Police Force Area, as part of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins.Data on the number of Officers, by Police Force Area and by rank, the number of PCSOs and Special constables, for each Police Force in England and Wales, going back to March 2007, can be found in the Open Data Tables published alongside the release:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629362/open-data-table-police-workforce.odsThe latest published figures, representing the picture as at 30 September 2018, can be accessed in the accompanying data tables here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-30-september-2018The next release of ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ is scheduled for publication on Thursday 18 July 2019, and will cover the situation as at 31 March 2019.

Hate Crime: LGBT People

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that more victims of transgender and sexual orientation hate crimes feel comfortable coming forward to report those crimes.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to improve the support services available to victims of hate crime.

Victoria Atkins: In October 2018 the Government published Action Against Hate: the Government’s plan for tackling hate crime – two years on. Two key themes of the action plan are encouraging reporting and increasing support to victims.The Action Plan includes a number of commitments that are addressing all forms of hate crime, including a review of hate crime legislation by the Law Commission which commenced earlier this year, a public awareness campaign which has run twice, and the current Online Harms White Paper con-sultation.There are also a number of specific commitments addressing homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime, which have been informed by the Government’s 2018 LGBT Action Plan. These include: the Crown Prosecution Service working with partners to improve the recording and monitoring of equalities data for LGBT victims of hate crime and reviewing and refreshing its LGBT Hate Crime Schools Pack; further Government Equalities Office funding for anti-bullying interventions in schools from March 2019 to March 2020; support from the Home Office to the police to improve training in responding to victims; multiple Home Office funded projects aimed at tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime; and continued engage-ment with LBGT stakeholders.

Early Years Ministerial Group on Family Support

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the recommendations of the Inter Ministerial Group on early years family support have been agreed by his Department; and what further steps he has taken to improve early years family support.

Victoria Atkins: We recognise the impact of adverse childhood experiences and the importance of a stable, safe and supportive early years for children. The department is therefore pleased to have been involved in the work of the EYFS Ministerial Group.The Group has considered how the Government can improve the coordination and cost-effectiveness of early years (conception to age 2) family support and bolster local provision. The group has now made recommendations to Secretaries of State which will be considered in due course.

Scotland Office

Food Banks: Scotland

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he plans to visit a food bank in July 2019.

David Mundell: I currently have no plans to visit a food bank in my capacity as Secretary of State for Scotland in July 2019.

Church Commissioners

Church of England: Scotland

Deidre Brock: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June  2019 to Question 262402, if she will provide the details of those landholdings.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The Church Commissioners publish their largest 20 direct equity holdings and the largest 20 property holdings in their annual report (pg 76) a copy of which is available in the Library of the House of Commons or here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2019-05/Church%20Commissioners%20Annual%20Report%202018.pdf.Due to commercial sensitivities the Church Commissioners do not give more detailed breakdowns of their holdings. A full list of holdings in Scotland would be identifiable via the Land Registry.

Cabinet Office

Members: Correspondence

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich of 18 April 2019 with regard to Mr Clive Barbour.

Oliver Dowden: I responded to the Hon Member for Greenwich and Woolwich’s correspondence on 26 June 2019. I apologise for the delay in responding to this letter

Public Bodies

Ben Bradley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the annual cost to the public purse of the 406 agencies and other public bodies listed on the gov.uk website is.

Kevin Foster: The Public Bodies 2018/19 report, published on 22 March 2019, sets out the gross resource expenditure ofthe 301 arm’s length bodies which include all executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies as wellas non-ministerial departments, the latter of which are not included in the 406 bodies listed on gov.uk. As of31 March 2018, the gross resource expenditure was £203.8 billion. Further information on how this cost isbroken down per organisation across services provided, running costs of the organisation and other costscan be obtained from the organisations directlyThe annual cost to the public purse of the other public bodies listed on the gov.uk website is not heldcentrally.

Government Departments: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the Government estate is in the Borough of Havering.

Oliver Dowden: The total floor area for the London Borough of Havering as at March 2018 was 9,023 sq.m, c.0.1% of the total size of the central estate.

Huawei: 5G

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 263239 on Huawei: 5G and with reference to the blog post of 22 February 2019 written by the technical director of the National Cyber Security Centre, how many companies do not actively use Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre advice and guidance.

Mr David Lidington: Significant and impactful commercial networks in the UK have access to the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre. The remaining, mostly smaller operators are able to refer to the annual report from the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre Oversight Board. It is the responsibility of operators to ensure the security and resilience of their networks.

Cancer: Death

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have died from cancer in each of the last five years.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 75.34 KB)

Department for International Trade

Politics and Government: Hong Kong

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reduced legal certainty in Hong Kong on UK trade and investment with China.

George Hollingbery: The protests in Hong Kong have shown the strength of feeling among its people. It is vital that Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy is respected, including the rule of law. As a strong supporter of the “One country, two systems” principle, we have a high level of ambition for our trade and investment relationship with China and Hong Kong. We are determined to work with both China and Hong Kong to further improve our trade relationship to increase trade and investment flows.

Trade Missions: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many companies which have a primary base in Northern Ireland have participated in overseas trade missions in 2018.

Graham Stuart: The information is not readily available/held centrally but our estimate is that at least 18 Northern Ireland companies have participated in Department for International Trade run overseas trade missions in 2018.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Internet: Children and Young People

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to protect (a) vulnerable children, (b) young people, (c) young carers and (d) people in the care system through regulation of the internet.

Margot James: The Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. This will make companies more responsible for their users’ safety online, especially children and other vulnerable groups. We will establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. This regulator will set clear safety standards, through codes of practice, backed up by mandatory reporting requirements and effective enforcement powers. At the same time as the White Paper, the Government published the Social Media Code of Practice, which sets out actions that the Government believes providers of social media platforms should take to prevent bullying, insulting, intimidating and humiliating behaviours on their sites. In addition to providing children with the tools to go online safely, we already expect companies to protect them from inappropriate content. Ahead of the new regulatory framework, we will produce a new, additional draft code of practice focusing specifically on child online safety. The draft code will set our expectations about what is required to keep children safe and will examine existing resources available, including whether specific guidance should be available to parents and carers.

Television: Licensing

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential health effects on pensioners who are unable to pay the TV license fee; and what steps the Government is taking to tackle potential social isolation among those pensioners.

Margot James: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on a range of matters. The Government is taking steps to address potential loneliness, including appointing a minister to lead work on tackling loneliness and publishing the world’s first government strategy on loneliness, as well as securing £20million of new grant-funding for projects run by charities and community groups to bring people together.